HARRIS COUNTY – The search for a shooter is entering its third day after three people were killed early Sunday while attending a birthday party at a short-term rental home in Katy.
The three victims, Nicholas King, Ellesha Rice, and Michael Obodo, were all 24 years old. Two others had to be rushed to the hospital from the home on Russet Leaf Trace.
RELATED: 3 dead, 2 injured in shooting at NW Harris County short-term rental house
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, an altercation in the house turned into a shootout. Bullets were fired in and outside of the home. Nobody has been arrested.
“That day, Sunday, now is the absolute worst day of my life,” King’s eldest sister Lauren Welch said in an interview with KPRC 2.
She planned to have brunch on Sunday with King and Rice, who have been dating for two years and planned to get married.
“I just knew something was wrong,” Welch said. “He’s a stand-up guy. If he says he’s going to do it, he’s going to do it.”
Their mother, who hadn’t heard from King either, tracked his phone location to Russet Leaf Trace and noted that he hadn’t moved for hours. A news article had come out which referenced a shooting on that street.
Welch rushed to the location, where she she found a large crime scene and first noticed her brother’s car. Then a deputy shared the awful news.
“To lose your life amongst friends is just, it’s crazy. It’s what my brain can’t compute,” Welch said.
Investigators have not identified a suspect, but during a press conference at the scene, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said they weren’t sure if the suspected shooters were already inside the house as invited party guests or if someone showed up uninvited. He described the scene as “chaotic.”
The shooting happened during a celebration for Obodo’s 24th birthday, his family said.
“It’s unbelievable, you know? Why can’t my daughter just go to a party with her fiancé and have a good time without somebody just coming in and acting a fool?” Rice’s mother said.
Her mother, who asked KPRC 2 to not use her name at this time, said her daughter had a bright future. She was a recent graduate from St. Mary’s University and worked a full-time job while going to school full time. She always carried honors, she said, and planned to eventually become a judge.
“Now it’s just been cut short, and now my husband and I, and our family have to live with that grief,” Rice’s mother said.
She said it’s time for something to be done with gun laws.
“The majority of the time, the guns, they’re in the wrong peoples hands, that’s all there is to it,” she said. “She worked so hard to get where she was at, just to be gunned down.”
Her mother said Rice wanted to “make society better” through criminal justice.
“The most amazing little sister that I could possibly ask for,” Rice’s sister said. “I just wanted to let her know that she’s loved and I would do anything for her.”
According to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, Rice passed just 14 minutes before King. The couple both died in the kitchen.
Welch described her brother as a beautiful spirit who provided the family with comedic relief over his 24 years. She recently helped him pick out a promise ring for Rice and said they had a “beautiful relationship.”
“There’s something so beautiful about a couple loving each other so deeply and ... living to the end of their days together,” Welch said. “That’s not how they planned it. We thought we had so many years.”
The case is being investigated as a capital murder. Tips can be called in to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.